Despite the fact that it seems about every one in five movies that are released lately fall in to the "found footage" genre, that particular style of film-making shows no signs of ebbing in its popularity. Most people were introduced to this style of film with The Blair Witch Project in 1999, with many movie-goers leaving the theatre not entirely convinced that it was just a film. I remember having to console a co-worker, who was literally in tears because she believed that something had happened to those poor kids. This was not the first use of the genre, however, that distinction may belong to the 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust, which showcased an ill-fated expedition to the Amazon. That particular film was convincing enough to have had the director arrested on obscenity charges, and was widely believed (at the time) to be an actual snuff film, and is stilled banned in some countries to this day. This style of film is generally reserved for the horror genre of film-making: in order to be "found footage", it means the people filming are either missing or dead, with those events playing out before the cameras, and the resulting footage having been discovered by family members, law enforcement, etc. This time, however, we get a science fiction take on the style with Chronicle.
The film opens with teenager Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan, True Blood, Amigo) setting up a recently acquired video camera to document the goings-on in his life, namely the actions of his drunk father, Richard (Michael Kelly, Dawn of the Dead, Law Abiding Citizen) and his cancer-ridden mother. Andrew's cousin, Matt Garretty (Alex Russell, Almost Kings, Wasted On The Young) picks him up for school, and they have typical teenage banter while driving and it becomes apparent once they arrive at school that Andrew is not quite the popular kid that his cousin is. In an attempt to help him break out of his shell and hopefully to increase his popularity, Matt invites Andrew to a rave, but tells him it would probably be better for him to leave his camera at home. Andrew, of course, does not, and after a few scenes at the rave, Andrew angers a party-goer by inadvertently filming the guy's girlfriend, who then attacks him. Despondent, Andrew leaves the rave to wait for his cousin, when he is approached by the school's star quarterback and most popular student, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan, Hardball, Red Tails), who tells him to come with him and film something that he and Matt have discovered in the ground. Steve leads them to a hole which is emitting a loud and strange noise.
No, not that hole.
After a few moments observing the hole, Steve impulsively goes in, with Matt following quickly behind. After a few moments of hesitation, Andrew joins them. They eventually come upon a large, glowing, blue, crystalline object that has weird effects on the physics of the area, namely drawing the sweat straight off of Steve's face. As Andrew films, the object begins to glow red, and the trio are struck by nosebleeds and pain. There is a bright flash, and the camera cuts out. It then jumps to a few weeks later, with Andrew having a new camera, and the group sitting around and filming what appear to be new found telekinetic abilities, but also garnering nosebleeds if they over-exert themselves. It becomes apparent very quickly that Andrew has much better control over these new abilities than the other two do. They decide to re-visit the hole in the ground, but upon arrival discover that is has collapsed and the Sheriff's Department is sealing off the area to prevent further danger. As their abilities continue to grow stronger, Matt theorizes that the abilities are like a muscle that continue to grow in strength the more they use them.
Like this, but with the MIND...
Soon after, the boys are riding down the road, when a truck comes speeding up behind them, honking and being a general jerk when Andrew decides to teach him a lesson. He uses his abilities to push the truck off of the road, and down into a water-filled ravine. Horrified, the boys swing in to action, and save the driver, although he is severely injured. Matt understandably freaks out and sets in place a list of rules about their abilities, namely not using them on ANY living thing. They agree, and try to move past the incident, all the while their abilities continue to grow in different areas: impervious skin, heightened strength, and the crowning jewel of super-abilities, flight. Andrew expresses an interest for them to fly around the world after graduation, and wanting to go to Tibet because of its peaceful nature. There may be hope for this kid yet, since it looked like he was headed down a bad path that culminated with the wrecking of the truck and its driver. But that's all I can really go in to here, from this point on things begin to ramp up, as the boys have to start to learn about dealing with the morality of having great power, which would be a hard task at any age, let alone for teenagers who also have to deal with the high school society and hierarchy of cliques and class distinction. As far as the "found footage" style goes, one of the most common complaints I've heard is this: "When things start to go to pieces and all hell is breaking loose, why do they keep filming? Why don't they just drop the cameras and worry about saving their asses as opposed to saving the moment for posterity?" This film manages to answer that question, and quite easily, and also provides a way for there to be multiple camera angles and quick cuts while keeping it plausible, at least for a psuedo-superhero movie anyway, where you're required to have at least already suspended some disbelief. The actors also seem very credible in their roles, you have to ramp up your acting skills to portray someone who isn't supposed to be acting at all, at least in my opinion, which is why Blair Witch worked so well for me, those kids were lost some of the time, there were genuine fights on film, but in the end they were still actors and so it was a very real feel. The boys in Chronicle I got a real feel for, because they approached their abilities the same way I would have in high school, as well as the aftermath of when the protagonists and antagonists are established, and things come to a head. This film is definitely a breath of fresh air in the "found footage" genre, and I hope that no one takes a dump on it, like Blair Witch 2 did to its predecessor. This is a definite must see for comic book and super-hero fans, (even though it isn't based on an actual comic book), but you don't have to be a fan of those to enjoy this movie, by any means.
